


War does change people

by DoomBum



Series: Change is inevitable [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Ben is tired of this shit, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Uses They/Them Pronouns, Klaus changed, Luther Hargreeves Being an Asshole, Non-Binary Klaus Hargreeves, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-War, Reveal, Secrets, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, The Hargreeves don't know, Trauma, but he tries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23525452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoomBum/pseuds/DoomBum
Summary: The war changed Klaus, but their siblings have no idea what happened and how to help.OR 5 times The Hargreeves notice something is wrong with Klaus +1 time they finally get the story.
Relationships: Dave/Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & The Hargreeves, The Hargreeves Family
Series: Change is inevitable [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1724749
Comments: 48
Kudos: 853





	1. Prologue

That week was a rush, it felt like they didn't even get the time to breathe or to think. From the time they all arrive at the academy for the old man's funeral to the moment Five teleports them all to the beginning of the week again, none of them had the time to even comprehend what happened.

Then they took the time, during that repeated week, to make sure Vanya gets enough in control of her powers to not explode the moon again. She is getting better now, it's finally the 1st of April and the world is still standing and everyone can finally take a break. They are all trying to get their life back in order, to take the time to process what actually happened to them.

Luther finally came to the realisation that Reginald was an awful person, that never loved any of them. It took him a long time, and finding his moon researches unopened really hitted him hard, and almost made him go down a really bad slope but he is resolute to get back up and to be a better brother this time. He even apologized to Vanya, after he understood how messed up his actions were. He still has work to do, but he will get there, he won't do the same mistakes again. 

Diego couldn't breath since he saw Eudora's body cold on the ground of that motel. At the first opportunity he ran to the police office to check and he almost fell in tears when he saw her. He apologized for everything and decided to start all over again, going back to the police academy to earn a second chance long overdue. This time, he will make things right. 

Allison can't talk anymore, she surely never will, but she can't find it in herself to care. Her voice is what destroyed her, and losing it almost felt like a blessing, now she will never make the same mistakes again. She went back to LA at the first chance to try to get some time with her daughter, succeeding in getting a shared custody. She came back quickly, introducing her daughter to her family, not wanting to leave any of them behind again. 

Five is reckless, he finally succeeded in stopping it. It's done, the apocalypse is over and the commission lost. His family is alive and he can finally stop running.He knows it won't be as easy, but he has time to figure out how to relax. Now, all he has to worry about is being a brother again, and making sure the Comission don't come after them again, of course. 

Vanya can't believe it, she has powers. It's everything she ever wanted, and now that she has it, she finally understands what her siblings meant. Powers are a curse not a blessing. She can't believe she almost destroyed the world, and that she so easily fell for Leonard's - no - Harold's manipulation. She pushed them all away when they tried to help her. God, she almost killed Allison. They are all helping her train, they take their time not wanting to rush her, and be like Reginald all over again, she is grateful for it. She is grateful for them and she will make sure they know that. 

Klaus died. Both literally and figuratively, they died and none of their siblings even noticed. Only Ben knows what happened to them, how much they got, and how much they lost. They can see that their siblings are coming down from the rush, finally able to think. They are kinda jealous, because it seems that they still can't breath. They can still hear the gunshots in the distance, they can still smell the mud and blood surrounding them, they can still feel the blood on their hands. 

And none of their siblings seems to notice, even now. After talking about being there for each other, watching out for each other, they still don't notice. They don't know why they expected anything else. Ben keeps telling them to just talk about it, to explain to all of them, but they can't do it. It's too hard to even think about it. They just want to see him again, but they can't seem to be able too, even being clean for, technically, two weeks.

Ben is worried, don't get him wrong he is happy that his sibling is clean, that the others are finally acknowledging his presence, or trying too anyway, but they can't stop worrying for Klaus. He can see how bad they are and they can't do anything to help, he doesn't understand how, he wasn't there. He tries to convince them to talk about it but is just met with silence. He can only hope that his siblings finally take notice on how they look, on how they act, and that they put the pieces together and finally help them. 


	2. Appearance

The first time she notices anything, Allison just got back from Los Angeles, and decides to invite Klaus to a shopping trip for some sibling bonding time. 

She strolls down the corridors, trying to find them in the large house. After searching their room and some of the bathrooms, she hears them talking in the living room. She stops in her tracks when she sees what they are wearing. For the first time since she commented on them stealing her skirt, she really looks at their outfit, outfit they must have been wearing for at least a month by now. 

She frowns as she takes in the worn army jacket hanging on their frame above some colourful tank top, the dog tags around their neck clinging at their every move, and the military green cargo pants clashing with the bright pink slippers. Her eyes linger a few seconds on the bandages around their forearm and the regiment tattoo on their shoulder before focusing back on their face, to see they stopped the conversation they were having with Ben to look at her questioningly.

She smiles sheepishly, ashamed of being caught staring, she tries to change the subject by going back to what she came here for. _"Hey Klaus, I was going to do some shopping, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me ?"_

They light up at that, getting up from their place on the couch and jumping excitedly toward her "Sibling shopping session ! Alli, when did I ever said no to that ?" 

She laughs slightly at the sudden change of attitude, _"I'll take that as a yes then ?"_

Klaus just nods before pulling her to the exit "Come on, let's go !" She follows them, only stopping to get her purse before guiding them to her car.

When they arrive at the shopping mall, she has to stop Klaus from throwing themself at the first store in sight, navigating them to another one she knows will have more interesting stuff. 

As they enter the shop, Klaus directly goes to the women section, looking through crop tops and shoes. "Look at all this choice ! There is so much !"

Allison smiles softly at the sight, happy to see them enjoying themself again after everything that happened. As they enter the dressing room, she starts to look the dresses for herself starting to plan for a mani-pedi for when they are done with their shopping. 

It takes her a few minutes before she goes to the changing room, when she gets there Klaus gets out in one of the crop top they found, showing part of the strange tattoo on their stomach, she never saw it before but she guesses it was there before, just hidden under the shirts. 

She frowns slightly as she sees that they kept the army jacket above it but doesn't say anything about it. _"It looks really great Klaus."_ She smiles at them, but it drops the moment they get back in the fitting rooms. 

She doesn't understand why they would wear something like that, it looks nothing like their normal style and she never thought she would see them in any kind of military outfit considering their views on troops and war. She remembers when they were kids, Klaus would always mock Luther when he was talking highly of the army, saying he will enroll one day, their sibling rolling their eyes every time, telling how much they thought war was stupid, and that soldiers were horrible people for ever joining the forces. 

She doesn't know what happened for them to wear literal fatigue and to get what looks like a squad tattoo, but it worries her deeply, and she is resolute to figure it out. But before doing that, she will make sure that Klaus enjoys their shopping session, and in order to do that, she treats the both of them to the best spa of the city after paying for everything they want here, and when they get back to the academy, laughing to some old story, she can't stop smiling at the obvious joy on their face. 

\--

Vanya didn't really paid any mind to Klaus's new outfit choice, guessing it had to do with some new fashion trend she doesn't know about, or just one of their eccentricities, that wouldn't have been unheard of.

So, yeah, she didn't paid attention to the army jacket, or the dog tags, hell not even to the tattoos, her sibling always had a gift for extravaganza, always falling in excess. What really made her stop and worry is the scars that seem to litter their body, scars she was sure weren't there before the apocalypse week but that looked several months old. 

When she first saw them, she was going down the academy's hallways, humming to herself quietly. Her thoughts got interrupted by the sound of someone cursing in one of the bedrooms, she stops and turns around to locate the origin of it. She slowly approaches Klaus's door and gets ready to knock when the cursing comes again, she decides to carefully opening the door, her curiosity taking over. 

In the small breach, she can't see her sibling, but she does notices a bunch of bandages on the bed, making her frown slightly. She quickly opens wider, her eyes widen largely when she sees them, her hand coming to her mouth in shock. Klaus is sitting on their desk chair, shirtless, cleaning up a large wound on their forearm while cursing each time they touch it. 

Hearing her gasp loudly, they quickly raise their head to find her frozen in their doorway, they stand up, trying to hide their wounded arm behind them but they give up the idea when they remember the rest of their scars are mostly visible anyway "What are you doing here ?"

Vanya's eyes travel down her sibling's body, lingering on the numerous scars that litters it. She can easily see at least two bullet wounds that she is sure weren't there two weeks ago, despite them obviously being completely healed. Her focus goes back to the fresh cut they were cleaning, she is horrified as she now have a better view of it, it takes the entire length of their upper-arm and looks pretty deep. She saw the gauze surrounding it before, but she never could have guess the real extent of their injuries. She thought they were just being dramatic about some little cut, that they wanted to attract attention on themself. How could she be so oblivious and naive ?

"Wh- What happened to you ?" She couldn't understand what had happened, when could they have gotten hurt so badly, but heal so fast ? It doesn't make any sense. 

"It's a long story." Klaus sits back on their chair, turning their back to her allowing Vanya to see the large exit wound from one of the bullet scar on their lower back. They close the disinfectant and starts to wrap their arm in bandages. When they notice that she isn't leaving, they add "Not one I want to talk about right now, so unless you wanted something you can leave and close the door behind you."

Vanya frowns, taken aback by her sibling's arch tone. She never saw them that closed up before, and she doesn't know how to react to it. Seeing as they ignore her, she decides to leave it alone for now, letting herself some time to think more about it. She leaves slowly, closing the door after a last worried look to her sibling.

\--

Luther always had a fascination for the military, thinking about enrolling several times, so when he first notices Klaus's outfit he is angry.

He is walking around the house, no real destination in his head, when he turns around a corner and stumbles upon Klaus, who drops the large pile of books they were holding in surprise. 

"Fuck ! Can't you watch where you're going Luther ?" Klaus quickly drops on their knees to pick up the mess. 

"Sorry." Luther gets down to help them. "What are you even doing with all these ?" 

Klaus hesitates, looking at their side for a second "It's for Ben." 

Luther stiffens at the name but relaxes quickly giving them a nod, deciding on not commenting. Klaus relaxes too when they see he won't scold them. 

As they reunite everything, Luther keeps the pile he collected, Klaus gives him a curious look "I'll come with you, where were you going ?" 

"Back to my room." Klaus looks down, unsure about Luther's presence around them after everything that happened back in the apocalypse week. 

They quickly raise their head back when Luther starts going toward their room, rushing to follow him. 

When they get there, they put the books down on their desk. "Thanks."

Klaus goes toward their bed, expecting Luther to leave directly and not wanting to stay too long with his crazy, (ex-)junkie, sibling.

But the large man stays for a second, unsure what to do with himself, he wanted to talk to Klaus for some time now, apologizing for that day he got drunk and hurted them, except he doesn't know where to start to not make it uncomfortable. 

So he stays there, ignored by his sibling who lied down on their bed. His brows furrows more and more as he takes in the other figure, and outfit. The military jacket clashes with the colourful crop top and leather pants. He briefly wonders if he saw the tattoo on their belly before but he doesn't dwell on it, they hadn't saw each other in a long time after all. 

What does make him stop is the insignias on their jacket, and the tattoo on their arm. He is thoughtful for a moment, unsure at what he is feeling. Klaus was always loud about how stupid they thought army was, especially when Luther was talking about it, constantly mocking him for watching war movies, and dressing like some vaguely resembling modern soldier.

Seeing them now, wearing a jacket patched with the U.S. Army logo, ‘Pte K. Hargreeves’ embroidered on the pocket, and a military tattoo stating ‘173rd Airborne Brigade’, he is confused, but most importantly angry. Who do they think they are ? Making fun of soldiers who are giving their life for them. He wants to scream at them for being so disrespectful of the sacrifice of millions of men, but he stops himself when Klaus turns to look at him with a questioning look, his eyes catching the dog tags hanging around their neck. He can see the name ‘David Katz’ engraved on it. They look real, and for a second he wonders if maybe his sibling is not being insolent, but instead honouring a memory. He shakes his head, almost laughing at himself, since when Klaus ever honoured anything but themself ?

His gaze goes back to Klaus’s face, watching him expectantly, but Luther just scoffs in annoyance, not bothering to rant at them, knowing they wouldn’t care. He turns to leave, closing the door loudly behind him in anger, leaving a puzzled Klaus behind him.

\--

Diego noticed the military outfit back during the apocalypse week but he decided on not saying anything, it didn't really seemed like the good moment for that, but as he sees Klaus clutching the dog tags around their neck for the hundredth time he starts to wonder what it's all about. 

It happened again as he and Vanya were talking about their views on relationships. He was telling her about how he screwed up with Eudora by withdrawing information from her, not wanting her to find out about the umbrella academy, and she was nodding at his story thoughtfully. Klaus was on an armchair nearby, reading - or holding the book for Ben, he isn't quite sure - and as Diego throws him a look, he sees their hand holding the tags, stroking them absent-mindedly. 

He stops himself at the sight, freezing for a few seconds before slowly turning back to a confused Vanya. "Are you okay ?" She reaches an hand toward him, and he accept it while nodding

"Yeah I'm good, it's just - did you noticed that ?" He whispers the last part, carefully gesturing to where Klaus is sitting, not wanting them to notice him. 

Vanya throws a quick look at Klaus before going back to Diego, unsure at what she is suppose to notice. She opens her mouth to ask him what he means, but he quickly shushes her and copy their sibling actions, clutching an invisible necklace to try and make her understand.

She looks back at them, this time focusing on their hand, and when she turns back to Diego, it's with a knowing look and a quick nod "Yeah I saw it a few times already, I was starting to wonder what was up with that." 

"So you don't know either ?" He passes a hand through his hair and glances worriedly at Klaus again "I'm not crazy, right ? It _is_ strange ?"

"Yeah it's strange, but -" she leans toward him, making him lean too -"can't we just ask them about it ?"

The sudden sound of throat clearing makes them both turn to Klaus, like deers in headlights, to see their sibling throwing them an unimpressed look, book and tags long forgotten at the profit of crossing their arms over their chest. "I'm not bothering you, am I ?" They say sarcastically before turning to - what they guess is - Ben "I mean, seriously, I'm not fucking deaf." 

"Sorry." Klaus turns back to Diego, raising an eyebrow "It's just that we don't know how to approach the subject with you."

"What subject ?" 

"Where did you get the dog tags ?" Vanya carefully asks, getting Klaus attention on her. 

They visibly close up at the question, their hand automatically going to the piece of jewelry, Vanya starts squirming under the scrutiny and goes to apologize when Klaus answers, their expression melting to one of fondness "They belonged to someone really close to me." Their hand pass softly over the writings, their smile dropping as they remember what happened.

Diego, remembering their conversation in his car, is getting even more confused at his sibling's behaviour.

"Do you want to talk about it ?" Vanya asks, not sure what else she could say.

"No." Klaus gets up after that, clearly getting upset, they rush to the door not looking back as they add "Come on Ben, we're leaving."

Vanya looks back at Diego "What just happened ?"

He shrugs "I have no idea, but I don't like it." He glances at the door Klaus just went through "Something happened to them. I don't know what, but it was bad. I'm worried about them." 

Vanya stays quiet, lost in her thought as she keeps staring at the door. Eventually Diego leaves for the police academy, getting Vanya out of her trance and going to her room to practice some violin, hoping to put her mind on something else.


	3. Attitude

The first time he notices anything, Luther is on his way to the academy's garden, wanting some time for himself to think about everything that happened. He is completely and utterly lost, everything he ever believed in turned out to be a lie. His father never cared about him, and contrary to his siblings he never accepted it. He had to find his moon researches unopened to finally poen his eyes to something that was there all along. Deep down, he thinks he knew but he never could bring himself to really accept it. 

He sighs deeply as he closes the door behind him, slowly walking toward the oak tree. He goes to sit down next to it when he notices a shadow on the ground from the other side.  He furrows his brows, he doesn't really want to talk to any of his sibling right now but he knows he has to work on his relationship with all of them so he decides on staying. 

As he approaches, he clears his throat, startling the dark figure "Christ on a cracker !"  Klaus turns around, lifting their head to see their giant brother towering above them "Don't scare me like that Lu." 

"Sorry." 

They look at each other awkwardly and Luther starts to regret his decision to stay, his eyes catches the notebook in his sibling's hands, full of strange drawings, and he vaguely wonders what that is about but before he can even address it, Klaus sits back down behind the tree.  Luther stands there for a minute, thinking over his options. It would be strange, and rude, to leave now that they saw him, but Klaus is not the best person to be around when you want some peace and quiet. 

He sighs again as he sits at the opposite side of the tree, he needs to make efforts with all his siblings, that includes the loud and annoying one, he'll just have to tune them out.  Luther rests his head on the trunk and looks up to the fresh leaves making their first appearance for Spring.

He doesn't know how long he stays there, but by the time he pays attention to his surroundings again, it's starting to get dark. He looks at his left to see the sun getting down, and slowly rises to his feet. As he turns to the academy, he can see Klaus in the kitchen and he stops in his tracks. He braces himself, anticipating a mocking comment from them about losing track of time, or something as stupid, and he walks to the door, entering the kitchen and directly searching in the fridge for something to eat, trying to ignore his sibling. 

Turns out it's easy, Klaus doesn't say anything at all. His brows furrow as he takes the rest of last night chicken and turns back to the table, sitting down in front of his sibling.  The other looks at them for a second, before looking back down to their cup of coffee - coffee ? Since when do they drink coffee ? - ignoring him completely. 

Luther wants to be relieved, happy even, at the lack of mockery but he can feel himself strating to worry. Klaus is never silent, they are always talking, or fidgeting, or muttering, they are always making some kind of sound and them being completely silent is concerning. 

Actually, now that he thinks about it, Klaus hasn't been really talkative for a little while now, at least since the apocalypse week. Luther tries to remember if anything may have happened back then that could have change their attitude so much, but he can't think of anything. 

By the time he gets back to his room, Klaus still hasn't made a sound and Luther can't bring himself to ask why, unsure on how it will be received, and - let's admit it - enjoying the silence a little. It can't be that bad anyway, he would have noticed if it was. He is number One after all. 

\---

Five is busying with his equations, he needs to make sure the Commission doesn't come for them again. He hasn't slept or ate in some time now, and Allison keeps bugging him to take care of himself.  He yawns, scrubbing his eyes as he looks at the time, 2 pm. He looks at his walls, scribbled on at every surface, then at his shaking hand. He needs more coffee.

He quickly jumps to the kitchen, making Klaus yelp in surprise, which in turn makes him fumble backwards a little. 

"Five ! Don't scare me like that !" Klaus yell-whisper, and Five rolls his eyes as he goes to the coffee machine, not bothering answering. 

Neither of them say anything, and Five sits down at the table with the entire pot. "Can't sleep either ?" Klaus shakes their hand, obviously exhausted, and Five offers them a cup of coffee, that they take, at his surprise. Despite not saying anything, he watches more closely at his sibling's figure, they look like they've seen a ghost - no pun intended - Five knows they have been clean for a while now, and that they surely do, in fact, see ghosts right now, but he can't remember seeing Klaus so haunted by them before. 

Even at their worst, they always have a joke to make, a smile to show, but right now, as they gulp down the entire cup he just gave them, they look haunted by something bigger. 

His mind goes back to that day he found Klaus bloody on their bedroom floor, when they came back from their travel through time. He still doesn't know where they went, but he can easily guess it wasn't particularly good. They obviously got some kind of trauma out of it and he can guess that they lost someone during their time there. 

Five diverts his eyes when Klaus looks up in his direction, he isn't sure the other is ready to talk about what happened and he knows better than to push the subject. He knows he doesn't want to talk about his time in the apocalypse. 

He looks back at them after he finished his cup and frowns at the foreign look in their eyes, that isn't strange in itself, but it is disturbing to see them so _ empty,  _ so lifeless.

He shakes his head, he can take care of that later, for the moment he needs to get back to his equations, he can't afford to slack off. He rises from his chair, putting the cup in the dishwasher before going back to his room, nodding at Klaus on his way out.

\---

Vanya and Allison are sitting at the table, catching up on each other's life, while Grace is baking cookies for everyone, when Klaus enters the kitchen.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a twist Benny, I'm gonna ask her." They mutters as they walk toward their mom, leaning against the counter "Mooom !" 

"Yes, dear ?" Grace stops her baking to turn to Klaus, smiling gently. 

"Can we have waffles ? Ben wants waffles." They beam at her, before glaring at the space beside them while making shushing sounds. 

"Of course dear, as soon as I'm done with the cookies." She ruffles their hair, then turns back to her baking. 

Klaus turns to look at what she is doing, looking thoughtful for a minute. They hush at the air again before asking "How long is it going to take ?" 

"It should be ready in around 40 minutes." 

They nod at themself, or maybe at Ben. "Ok, thanks mom."

"You're welcome, dear."

They leave the room again, smiling at Vanya and Allison on their way out.

The two girls look at each other in awe, then at where their sibling just left. 

"Did they just - ?" 

_ "Accepted to wait willingly ? Yes, they did." _ Allison signs to her sister, shaking her head in disbelief. 

Vanya tries to think of the last time Klaus ever was patient about anything, but she can't think of any occurence, the other always used to sulk loudly when they couldn't have what they wanted, when they wanted. 

She looks back at Allison to see her deep in her thoughts, surely thinking the same thing. She turns to Grace, completely unperturbed and whistling softly. Allison taps her, making Vanya look at her again  _ "Maybe they are sick ?"  _

She shakes her head. "No, that would make them more impatient, not less." 

_ "Yeah you're right." _ Allison looks back at the exit, unsure if she should be worried or happy.  On one hand, their restless behaviour always was annoying and a break from it is relaxing, but on the other hand, she can't help but worry about what brought that radical change.  _ "What do you think happened ?"  _

Vanya shrugs "I have no idea, but I know it's not the only thing that changed."

Allison nods, easily agreeing  _ "Yeah, I noticed that too." _ She huffs  _ "I'm sure it's nothing serious. They would have told us if it was, right ?"  _

"Yeah, you're right." She hopes Klaus would tell them if it was something important, but saying that feels like a lie, like she is just trying to reassure herself.

Despite how wrong it feels, both her and Allison drop the subject for another time, going back to lighter talks until Grace is done with her baking and they return to their respective rooms, each with a plate of cooling cookies, any worry for Klaus's behaviour erased from their mind. 

\---

Diego enters the training room for his daily routine, waving at Klaus in the corner and frowning when they don't reciprocate. The other has become a normal presence during his workout, they don't talk a lot during it but it feels better to not be alone. 

Diego keeps an eye on them as he goes to the machines, worried at the lack of response, they may not talk a lot but they at least welcome each other. He decides to try differently. "Hey sib !" 

Klaus stops their push-ups to glare coldly at him, making him recoil in surprise, they don't say anything and go back to their own training. Diego stands there in shock, his sibling never looked so - angry ? frustrated ? - he isn't even sure. He wonders what made them feel like that, but he doesn't really want to disturb them again. He chooses to drop the subject for the time being, focusing on his own workout.

By the time he is done, Klaus is still on it, looking even more exhausted than usual, increasing Diego's worry. "Maybe you should take a break ?" 

Klaus looks toward them, that cold stare returning and Diego can feel himself shivers under it. "I didn't ask for your fucking opinion, Diego." 

He stumbles backward, completely taken aback by their attitude towards him. He doesn't know what to do, or what to say, Klaus always was the more merry-go-round of them all, always joking around, laughing loudly at themself, and Diego is lost at the sudden change. 

He shakes his head and tells himself a bad day can happen to everyone, and that even Klaus has the right to be irritable from time to time. He would surely let it slide, if he wasn't so concerned for their well-being. "I'm just worried, Klaus. You look like you're going to pass out."

They roll their eyes in exasperation, huffing loudly as they get up from the ground, arms crossed over their chest "I know what I'm doing, and I don't need you to tell me what my limits are, okay ?" 

Diego is once again taken aback, but he doesn't let it get to him and takes a deep breath "I know that. But can't I be worried for my little sibling ?" He tries to lighten up the mood, bringing up the old joke, but Klaus's face remains stone cold, rising an unimpressed eyebrow, not even bothering to answer.

He looks down, defeated, and shakes his head. Not wanting to start a fight, Diego decides to leave as Klaus goes back to their work-out, throwing back a last worried look before silently closing the door. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note to Diego : Do not approach your sibling after they spend a night full of nightmares and flashbacks, it may make them irritable towards you.


	4. Language

The first time she notices anything, Vanya is coming back from a violin practice at the theater. She wasn't sure about continuing with the orchestra after everything that happened, but Five convinced her to follow her passion because 'it's good for your moral'. She laughs a little at the memory, Five can be such a softie under all that anger. 

She enters the kitchen, surprised to see Klaus sitting there, looking ahead at nothing and not reacting to her presence at all. She frowns as she sets her violin down on the table and opens the fridge in search of some leftovers. "Do you want something to eat ?" 

They slowly turn to look at her, slightly shaking their head. "Không." ( _No._ ) They stare for a second before look straight ahead again, eyes empty of any emotions. 

Vanya's frown deepens as she carefully settles down in front of them. "Are you okay ?" 

They shrug. "Tôi hoàn toàn ổn." ( _I'm perfectly fine._ ) 

"What ?" Vanya is confused and kinda lost, what language is that ? It's not their usual German or French. When did they learn another language ? 

Her confusion seems to get Klaus out of their trance, they blink a little and look around them, seemingly disoriented. "Chuyện gì đang xảy ra vậy ? Tôi đang ở đâu ?" ( _What's happening ? Where am I ?_ )

"I - don't understand what you're saying." They look at her, surprised to see her here, which just add to her confusion "Cai gi ? Vanya ?" ( _What ?_ ) Klaus suddenly turn their head to look at something at their side, listening to something - Ben ? - intently. 

They shake their head a little, blinking a few times and passing a hand through their hair before looking back at her with a strained smile. "Vee ! What's up ?" 

She recoils at the sudden change, what's going on with them ? "What was that ?" 

She tries to give them a suspicious glare, but they only wave a dismissive hand at her. "It's nothing." 

Vanya raises an eyebrow at that, do they think she is stupid ? They can't just act like that and then expect her to ignore it. "Nothing ? That wasn't nothing ! It's like you weren't in your own body ! And what was that language you were speaking ?" 

They look away at her burst, redrawing on themself at each word before giving her a questioning look. "What ? What do you mean ?" 

She starts to get annoyed at their deflection, and huffs. "I couldn't understand a single word you were saying ? What was up with that ?" 

They seem to think about it for a moment, realisation painting on their face. They stroke the back of their neck. "It was Vietnamese." 

"When did you learn Vietnamese ?" 

It seems like that was the wrong question to ask, Klaus tenses up directly and a pained look pass through their features "That's none of your business." 

She frowns again, ready to defend herself but Klaus is already getting up and leaving the room before she can voice her annoyance. 

She looks at the door they disappeared behind, puzzled by what just happened. She wants to be angry at their behaviour, but she only feels worry, something is wrong, really wrong. She'll find what it is even if they don't want her to know, so she can help them the way they help her. 

\---

Five strolls down the stairs, Dolores in his arms. He just spend the last six hours working on his equations and he seriously needs a break.

He yawns as he enters the living room, stopping dead in his tracks when he notices Klaus on the couch, talking to what he assumes is Ben, moving their hands widely. "So we were waiting for the chopper to arrive when some VC just get out of nowhere, suddenly litting-up the field. Scared the shit out of us !" 

Five frowns at that, what the actual fuck ? Since when does Klaus speak like that ? He slowly approach the couch, putting Dolores down and staying out of view so he can listen to the conversation.

They shake their head at something Ben said "No, no ! Everyone got out fine. Well, Jimmy almost got wasted, but we fucked them up before they could do any real damage." 

Did they watched an old war movie or something recently ? Why else would they talk like that ? It doesn't make any sense, he feels like he is missing something and he doesn't like not knowing. He sits behind the couch, determined to figure it out.

"Jimmy ? Oh right, you don't know him… He was the youngest of the squad, barely 19 and a complete boot, even worse than me !" 

There is a break, surely as Ben is talking, then Klaus laughs at something "Yeah, I know ! Crazy, right ? I didn't thought it was possible." They sigh. "I hope he made it out." Another silence and what seems to be them shaking their head. "No, I didn't check. Not yet. I couldn't bring myself to do it." 

Suddenly, they get up and leave the room, leaving Five bewildered. He slowly gets up from his place behind the couch, scratching his head, what just happened ? He can't make sense of it. What is he missing ? 

He shakes his head and takes Dolores on his way out, he'll find out what's happening with Klaus, he is a genius after all. 

\---

Luther is sitting on the floor of his father's office, going through all the unopened mail hidden under the floor. He refuses to let his four years on the moon be all for nothing, there surely is some valuable data that can be used by NASA in some of these files. 

He is deep into the papers, trying to sort between personal stuff and actual datas, when he hears someone singing in the corridor. He can easily recognise Klaus's voice and wants to roll his eyes at their antics, until he recognises the tune.

Luther frowns a little, getting up from his spot on the ground to go listen behind the door. 

" _We gotta get out of this place_

_If it's the last thing we ever do"_

He definitely knows that song, he used to listen to it behind closed doors when he was younger. He remembers Klaus mocking him when they find out about it. Why would they sing that now ?

" _We gotta get out of this place_

 _'cause girl, there's a better life for me and you_ "

He slowly opens the door, looking through the gap to see them walking down the corridor, looking mournful. His eyes catches their hand clenching at the dog tags around their neck. 

" _Now my girl you're so young and pretty_

_And one thing I know is true, yeah_

_You'll be dead before your time is due, I know it_ "

Luther is beyond confused, he knows Klaus used to find that song completely stupid and meaningless. It doesn't make sense.

" _Watch my daddy in bed a-dyin'_

 _Watched his hair been turnin' grey, yeah_ "

He opens the door a little wider, his frown deepens as he catches the grieving look on their face. "Klaus ?" 

His sibling jump at the sudden noise, shrieking loudly "Seriously ! Why do you all keep sneaking on me ?" 

"Sorry." 

They look at him suspiciously, crossing their arms over their chest. "What do you want ?" 

"What's going on with you ?" Luther winces a little at the accusatory tone, he is supposed to stop doing that but he stand his ground nonetheless, he wants answers afterall. 

"What do you mean ?" They seem confused by his question. "Nothing is going on with me !" 

The sincerity makes Luther feel bad about his behaviour, maybe he should stop trying to accuse them of something every time he sees them. That is until he sees the annoyed glance they give to their side. Is Ben calling them on a lie ? It seems like he did, and if that's true, then maybe he should try to pry a little more. 

"I was just wondering when you started liking that song, since I clearly remember you mocking me when I sang it." 

Klaus tenses suddenly, looking back at him, eyeing him up and down. Why are they getting defensive ? It doesn't make sense, his question wasn't even mean, just curious. "What ? What is that even supposed to mean ? Tastes change, Luther." 

He knows that, but there is more than liking it there, it seemed deeper, personal. "Yeah, I know, but-"

"But nothing. That's none of your business." 

With that, Klaus quickly goes back to there room, leaving Luther bewildered. What just happened ? 

He just wanted to help. Ok, maybe it came out as rude, but they seemed so down he didn't really thought it through. He slowly goes back to his father's office, deciding to let Klaus some time to calm themself. He hopes when they do, they will come to him, and if they don't it's their right too, he really needs to remember he is not entitled to anything. 

\---

Diego hums to himself as he walks down the academy's halls. He feels like he could fly, Eudora just accepted to give him a second chance and he is resolute to not mess it up again. He is the happiest he has been in a while and it feels like things are finally going his way. Took long enough. 

He enters the living room, almost not noticing Klaus in his contentment. He slowly approach them, observing them curiously. 

They are sitting corssed legs on the ground, eyes closed and hands shining in a light blue. Are they meditating ? It seems like it. 

He shrugs to himself, it's not like it's the weirdest thing happening in this house, and goes on his way, passing in front of them. He stops in his tracks when he hears them shift and mutter frustratingly "Come on ! I need you, Dave." 

They sound exhausted, and Diego frowns at the unknown name, who the fuck is Dave ? 

"Klaus ?" Klaus flinch at the sudden noise, lifting their head to look at him questionaly. "What are you doing ?" 

They shrug, passing a hand on their face "I'm just trying to get a better hold of my powers."

There is something more to it, they are hiding something. Diego knows that and he wants to get to the bottom of it. "Who is Dave ?" 

They tense at the name, grabbing at the tags around their neck, making Diego worry even more. He waits for an answer, but they just shake their head, refusing to respond. He tries to quickly think it over, the guy is obviously someone they care about a lot, and who must have died since they are trying to use their powers. Diego doesn't know Klaus's friends but he feels like he should know about this one, it rings a bell. 

Suddenly it clicks, his mind goes back to that time outside the veteran bar. "Is he the person you told me you lost ?" 

They nod slowly, refusing to meet his eyes as their hands clench around the tags. 

"Do you want to tell me about him ?" He tries, maybe it will make them feel a little better, and explain a little Klaus's recent behaviour while he is at it. 

"No, not really." They give him an semi-apologetic look before getting up, they suddenly look at their side - at Ben - before huffing and adding "But thanks, I appreciate the offer."

"You're welcome ?" They wave a dismissive hand at them as they glare at Ben "I'm here if you need me." 

They roll their eyes, and seriously can they stop doing that, it's starting to get annoying. "Sure, thanks. But what I need right now is sleep, so…" 

They leave after that, leaving Diego alone and worrying about them.

\---

Allison is exhausted, she has the chance to have Claire at the academy for the week, but her daughter refuses to go to sleep, insisting for a song she can't sing. 

"Come on, Mom ! I want a lullaby !" 

She sighs again, slowly signing _"You know I can't."_

"But one of your siblings can !" 

She can't bother her siblings with that, she know they would love to do it, if it wasn't the middle of the night. 

She goes to explain it again when she hears a sudden noise in the corridor, she turns to look at the entrance of the bedroom to see Klaus looking at the both of them curiously. "What's happening here ?" 

Claire looks at them excitedly "Tankle Klaus ! I want a lullaby !" 

Allison gives them an apologetic smile but they dismiss her and approach Claire with a laugh "Is that so ?" 

She nods, looking back at her mother "But Mom can't talk, so she can't do it." She looks back at Klaus with pleading eyes "Can you do it ?" 

They laugh again, ruffling their niece's hair as they sit down on the bed. "Sure can do !" They seem to think about something for a second. "But I have to warn you I only know one and it's not in English." 

Allison frowns a little, but Claire just nods as she lies down on the bed. "Cool !" 

"Ok, then." They make themself more comfortable, winking at Allison as they notice her disbelieving stare. 

" _Những bài hát ru hay nhất giúp bé ngủ sâu hơn:_

_Hush bé yêu ơi, bé ngủ ngoan nha_

_Mẹ sẽ mua cho em chú chim biết hát ca_ "

Allison frowns deepens, she easily recognise the tune as the 'Hush, little baby' one, but what is that language and how does Klaus knows that ?

" _Và nếu chú chim không biết hát ca_

 _Mẹ sẽ mua cho em chiếc nhẫn xinh đẹp nè_ "

She has to admit they have a pretty voice, she can see Claire is already half-asleep with a smile on her face. Allison smiles at the sight.

" _Và nếu chiếc nhẫn không còn sáng lung linh_

 _Mẹ sẽ mua cho em chiếc kính mắt màu vàng_ "

By the end of the verse, Claire is completely asleep, snoring quietly, and Klaus stops singing when they notice. "She is a really cute kid." 

Allison nods, passing a soft hand on her daughter's cheek. She turns back to Klaus to sign _"Thanks."_

"No problem, Alli." They get up, ready to go. "I'll leave -"

They are stopped by a hand on their arms, turning to look at Allison questionaly. _"Where did you learn that song ?"_

Klaus tense a little at that, before shrugging dismissively. "I just heard it around. You know how easily I catch on things like that." 

They quickly leave the room with a 'Good night' after that, not giving her the chance to ask more. 

Allison looks at the closed door, confused by the strange behaviour. She wants to go after them but she is tired and she really doesn't want to wake Claire up. She lies down on her bed, closing her eyes, she can take care of Klaus tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used Google Translate, so feel free to correct me if there is any mistake in the Vietnamese part.
> 
> Also, 'Tankle' is the German gender-neutral term for Aunt/Uncle, and I love the idea of Claire using that for them instead of the English term.


	5. Strength

The first time he notices anything, Diego is on his way to the academy's training room to start on his new routine. He just got back from the police academy, where he finally got around registering again, and he is now ready to go back on a daily workout schedule.

As he enters the room, already warming up with some stretching, he can hear some sounds in the back of the room. Curious, he carefully approaches the dark corner "Hello ?" 

The sound stops and before the other gets the chance to get up, Diego turns on the lights bathing the room in a soft glow and allowing him to see Klaus looking up at him quizzically. They put their arm in front of their eyes, blocking the sudden light "Oh right, I could have turned that on." 

They get up slowly, obviously exhausted, but refusing Diego's reaching arm. "What are you doing here ?" He asks, unused at seeing his sibling training willingly.

Klaus gives him a look, eyeing him up and down like he was stupid. "Working out ?"

Diego rolls his eyes. "Yes, I saw that. What I meant is why ? You never liked to work out before, always complaining about it when we were kids."

Klaus just shrugs. "I'm used to it." Diego frowns, ready to ask for precision, but his sibling just walks past him. "I hope you don't mind the company because I'm here every day. I don't use the equipments though, so they are all yours."

At that Klaus gets back on the ground, ignoring him again as they start doing push-ups. Diego watches him worriedly for a minute, but seeing he won't get anywhere he starts going towards the pushing bags to start his own routine, throwing glances to Klaus from time to time.

When he is done with his workout, Diego looks at Klaus again. The other looks completely exhausted but not anywhere close to stopping. Diego wants to say something but with their previous coldness towards him, he doesn't think it's a good idea. He decides on letting the subject go for now, maybe he'll get more answers another day, when they are in a better mood.

\---

Vanya didn't know it would be so much trouble to move everything from her all apartment to the academy, she didn't think she had that much furniture. She regrets telling everyone she would be fine. She would love having Luther's strength right now. 

She tries pushing the dresser again, annoyed when it doesn't move. Why did she took that already ? Oh right, to have something that belonged to her in her old room. That was a bad idea. She can't even go inside and ask for help since no-one is home, why didn't she accept their help back when they offered ? 

She pushes again, succeeding in making it move a few inches before it stops. She huffs and kicks the dresser, hurting her feet in the process. She can feel tears starting to fall down her face in frustration. 

"So, do you want help now ?" She jumps in surprise, looking at Klaus with wide eyes. They rub a hand on the back of their neck at her reaction. "Sorry." 

"It's okay. What are you doing here ?" She tries to calm her racing heart, she hadn't heard them coming at all. 

They look at her strangely for a second. "I live here ?" 

She rolls her eyes, something she finally feels confident enough to do around her siblings. "I thought you were out like everyone else." 

"Out ? Me ?" They ask pretty dramatically, making her roll her eyes again before nodding. They shrug, quickly looking behind them. "I'm not allowed to go out." She frowns before remembering that their siblings, Klaus included, agreed it was for the best if they didn't go out on their own for the moment, to make sure they didn't relapse. "I was on the roof, but Ben told me you were having some troubles here." 

They gesture at their side, at Ben, before smiling at her and taking a hold of the dresser. She wants to warn them it's really heavy but they already succeeded in pulling it way more than she did in the last ten minutes. She watches bemused as they take it inside the house, when did Klaus get so strong ? 

"I would appreciate a little help with that, you know ?" She quickly follows inside the house to see them at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for her. "Or maybe we could take everything from your car to put it here, and then take it up to your room ?" 

She thinks over it for a second, nodding as she reaches her conclusion. "Yeah that may be more practical." 

They both go back out, Klaus easily taking care of the heaviest boxes, at Vanya's astonishment. Seriously, what happened there ? Last time she checked Klaus was the weakest of the family, even she was stronger than them. She shakes her head, no need to dwell on it for the moment, all that matters is than they can help her. 

By the end of the day, her room is completely furnished and they both are in the living room, resting. She looks at them curiously, unsure if she should verbalise her questions. After reflexion, she decides to not breach the subject, considering it's not really that important and there surely is a logical explanation, especially when she remembers they spend several years on the street, they must have gotten more strength during that time. 

For the moment, she just relaxes on the couch, distantly listening to Klaus talking with Ben. 

\---

Luther is getting ready for his and Diego's new run routine, when he sees Klaus sitting on the couch, staring at nothing and completely silent. He frowns slightly as he approaches his sibling from the side, their silence worrying him. Klaus is never silent. 

Despite the loud noises he makes as he walks, they don't seem to notice his presence in the room. He tries clearing his throat, which makes them jump from their spot and quickly turn to them. "Luther !" They put their hand on their chest, Luther rolls his eyes at the dramatic outburst he knows is coming. "You scared me, you can't sneak up on people like that !"

"Sorry." He doesn't look the least sorry, clearly the other must have seen him before hand. He knows he is too imposant for them to not have heard him. 

Klaus frowns at the tone, but quickly forgets about it when they notice his running clothes. "What are you doing dressed like that ?"

"Diego and I are doing daily jogging now." Klaus raises an eyebrow, surprised their brothers are willingly spending time together. "Allison's idea. She thinks it's a good bonding exercise." 

They laugh a little, shaking their head in amusement. "Of course it's Allison's idea." 

Luther scoffs and turns to leave, already annoyed at his sibling's mocking tone but Klaus quickly gets up to follow him. "Can I join you ?"

He stops in his tracks at that, turning slowly to look at the other in shock. Did he heard that right ? Klaus exercising willingly ? He almost want to laugh but pauses when he notices the serious look on their face, deciding to amuse them he answers "Yeah sure, you can join us." Good luck with keeping up.

He proceeds to leave for the entrance, Klaus rushing to their room to change into running shoes. 

They both meet Diego outside the academy, their brother raising an eyebrow at Klaus's presence throwing a questioning look at Luther, who shrugs. "They saw me leave and wanted to come along." Klaus nods along his words, almost solemnly. 

Diego gives Luther a worried look, before turning to Klaus. "You sure you want to come with us ? You know how we can get, you could have a hard time following."

They smirk, throwing a dismissing hand toward him. "Don't worry about me Di-Di, I'll be fine."

Diego still looks concerned and looks at Luther for help, but the giant just rolls his eyes before turning away to start running. "Suit yourself then." 

Diego curses before giving an apologetic look at Klaus and quickly following Luther, not ready to lose against his brother. He can hear Klaus's laugh in the distance but doesn't turn around, too focused on catching up with the other. Klaus stays behind for a second, glancing at an exasperated Ben before running too, easily catching up with their two idiotic brothers.

For the first few miles Diego keeps on looking behind him to check on Klaus, who is continuously making silly face each time, while Luther doesn't say anything but is a little impressed that his sibling actually succeds in keeping up with the both of them. 

After a good hour, both Luther and Diego are starting to weaken, and they start to go slower, but since none of them want to give up first they keep going at an agonizing slow pace. Klaus, still behind them, starts to get annoyed by the ridiculous rhythm and stops running. "Are you guys serious right now ?"

They stop and turn to look at them, both equally exhausted. Diego seems sheepish, embarrassed by his own competitivity, but Luther looks smug, sure his sibling is admitting defeat before he actually watches them and realises they don't seem tired at all. "What ?"

"You look close to passing out, both of you. This is ridiculous, if you are tired just stop."

"I'm not tired." Luther scoffs, and Diego rolls his eyes. "What ? I'm not !"

"Sure you're not. You are literally panting right now." Diego crosses his arms above his chest, himself feeling drained. "Klaus is right this is ridiculous, this is supposed to help us bond not compete. I'm done, I'm going home."

He then starts to walk away from his siblings, annoyed by his own behaviour. "Wait !" He stops, turning to Luther quizzically. "We are coming with you, we can talk on the way back if you want." He nods, hiding his smile and gesturing them to follow.

"We ?" They both look back at Klaus, whose arms are crossed over their chest. "You may be done, but I'm not."

Luther frowns, how are they not tired ? They used to always get tired after like ten minutes of training when they were kids, and now after an hour of running they look as in shape as when they started. 

"Are you sure ? You don't have to overdo yourself, you know ?" Diego asks softly, not wanting Klaus to hurt themself just to prove something, while also trying to not hurt their feelings. 

Klaus gives him an impressed look. "I'm not overdoing myself, I'm just not tired." 

"Ok, if you're sure." He decides not to push and leave them be. "Come on Luther, we can talk a little on the way back."

Luther follows him silently, a little confused by Klaus's behaviour. When they are a few blocks away, Luther decides to break the silence. "What's going on with Klaus lately ?"

Diego throws a worried look behind him, to where they left Klaus. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out." He sounds resolved and Luther nods solemnly at his side, determined to find out and to help his sibling.


	6. Behaviour

The first time he notices anything, Five is with Klaus in the living room, reading through some of Reginald's old files to see if they can find anything about Vanya's powers. They still haven't found any good information and Five starts to lose hope of finding any clue in there. He looks at his sibling, who seems as tired as him, before putting the notebook he is holding on the table. He leans back into the couch, stroking his eyes tiredly. When he looks back at Klaus, they are watching him questionaly.

"I'm just taking a small break." They nod, going back to their own notebook. 

After a few minutes of rustling paper and quiet muttering, he sits straight again, ready to continue. He grabs the paper, before dropping them in shock of a sudden crashing sound upstairs.

He quickly looks at Klaus to see them standing up, stock of papers forgotten on the ground, a hand reaching at their belt to a gun he hadn't noticed before. He frowns at the sight, before noticing his own position is pretty similar to theirs, the only difference being him still sitting down. He slowly takes his hand off the gun he always keeps on himself, seeing Klaus do the same and sitting back down. They both hear Diego loudly cursing at Luther, making them easily understand what happened. Their brother are fighting again. Five rolls his eyes and shakes his eyes, can they even stop arguing for more than a day ? 

He ignores the noise and looks back at Klaus, or more precisely at the gun he had previously missed. Klaus catches him looking, raising an eyebrow at his staring. "What ?" 

"Where did you get that gun ?" 

They look down at their belt, then back at him, shrugging. "Stole it in dad's office." 

Five isn't really surprised that Reginald hid a pistol in his office, he seemed like the kind of guy doing that. It doesn't explain why Klaus, of all people, who take it and keep it on them. "Why ?" 

They shrug again. "I feel safer with it nowadays." 

They obviously try to make it sound casual but Five easily sees there is more to this story than meets the eyes. Something happened that made them feel safer carrying a weapon, and he has no idea as to what it can be. He can easily understand why someone would feel safer with it. Afterall, he himself carries one around, not to be armed but by habit, and he thinks that it's the same for Klaus.

What he doesn't know is why would _Klaus_ be used to having a gun on them. Reginald always was against any of them using handguns, saying it was a too easy solution and that all they needed were their powers, so Klaus being used to the presence of a gun is strange, concerning even. 

But before he can say anything else, Five sees Klaus going back to their notes and he decides to do the same. They must have their reasons, that have nothing to do with him, and he isn't going to ask when they so obviously don't want to develop. So he goes back to his own notes, trying to drown out the noise made by Luther and Diego upstairs as he focuses back on the task at hand.

\---

Allison yawns as she walks toward the bathroom. Today has been a long day and she can't wait to finally take the time to relax in the bathtub. She finally reaches the door, ready to open it, when Klaus suddenly passes in front of her, closing the bathroom on her. 

She stays frozen for a second, blinking a few times as she processes what just happened, before lightly kicking the door in annoyement. Klaus opens the door again to look at her questionaly. _"Seriously, Klaus ?"_

"Sorry, sis ! Don't worry I won't take long !" They close the door on her face again.

Allison rolls her eyes, as if ! Klaus is the longest in the bathroom, always taking hours long baths and not caring for any of them needing to wash too. It's at these moments she is happy the academy has eleven different bathrooms. If only they weren't so far away from eachother. 

She sighs as she hears the water run down, passing a hand on her face. She really doesn't want to walk all the way to one of the other bathrooms, she already had a long day. She ruminates for a moment, before sighing again, making her way to the nearest bath. 

She is in the middle of the corridor when Klaus opens the door again, making her turn around in surprise. They are half-dressed and drying their hair. "All yours."

She looks at them in complete shock, what the hell ? It hasn't even been five minutes yet, and they're already washed and mostly dried ? Something is definitely wrong. She looks inside the bathroom, it looks unused. Did they take a shower ? 

Allison looks at them again as they start going to their own room, stopping at her hand on their arm. _"Did you take a shower ?"_

"Yes ?" They look confused by the question. 

_"You ? A shower ?"_ She insists. That doesn't make sense, they always complained about showers, saying they 'sucked' and that baths were the only true way to wash. Always way too dramatic. 

They roll their eyes. "Yes, a shower. Why ? Don't I have the right to take one ?" 

_"It's just that you never liked them before."_

"Well now it's baths I don't like." They shrug and a haunted look crosses their face. "They bring back some bad memories." 

They shake their head before leaving for their room, closing the door behind them. She watches them worriedly, wondering what could have brought that new dislike. She rather not breach the subject, preferring to take a bath and relax for the night. She can think about all that another time, there is no real hurry.

\---

Diego just finished washing after getting home from a long day at the police academy. He puts his nightshirt on and slowly gets back to his room, stopping in his tracks when he hears strange noises in Klaus's room. 

He carefully opens their door, easily seeing inside thanks to the nightlights surrounding the room. He frowns when he doesn't see anyone on the bed, turning his head toward the whimpering sound and spotting Klaus sitting on the floor. His sibling has their back to the wall, head low, and look extremely uncomfortable. They move in their sleep, as if trying to evade some invisible force.

Diego isn't sure if he should wake them up, even if it's a nightmare, they barely get enough sleep as it is. Maybe he should at least make sure they sleep in their bed instead of the floor. He decides to wake them, he can't just let them to their demons when he can help. He slowly and carefully approaches Klaus, shaking their shoulder a little. 

Suddenly, he has his face stuck to the wall, Klaus fully awake and strongly pinning his arms in his back, not letting him any place to move.

"Klaus ! It's just me !" It takes a few seconds before they let him go. Diego strokes his arms and looks at his sibling incredulously.

The other is blinking, taking in their surroundings before looking at him guiltily. "Sorry." 

"It's okay, I should have been more careful." He says despite having been as careful as he could have. What are these reflexes ? They never reacted like that before.

"Why did you wake me up ?" They yawn, looking at the side for a moment and cutting his answer before he even has a chance to get it out. "Nightmare ? Oh… Well, thanks then." 

Diego is confused for a second before his brain reminds him of Ben's presence and he shakes his head. "No problem." He points at the bed, making Klaus turn to look at it, then back at him questionaly. "I also wanted to make sure you slept on the bed, better for your back and all." 

They shake their head and sit back down. "Nah, I'm fine on the ground." 

"It can't be comfortable ?" He frowns, who would anyone willingly sleep on the ground ?

Klaus shrugs, looking at the bed with a strange look on their face. "The bed is too comfortable. I can't sleep in it." 

"Too comfortable ? How can something be too comfortable ?" Diego feels bad for his doubting tone when he sees Klaus tensing and looking at their knees, fist clenched.

But before he can apologize they answer him. "I spend years sleeping on the streets, on benches,… or on a cot." They mutter the last part and Diego almost didn't catch it. They speak up again, not letting time to process it. "I'm not used to comfortable anymore." 

"Oh…" They look at him again with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry, I didn't even think about that." Diego strokes the back of his neck, ashamed of himself, as Klaus rolls their eyes. 

"Yeah. Can you leave now ? I'd like to go back to sleep." They close their eyes, readjusting themself on the ground, ignoring him as he slowly leaves the room. 

After he closes his sibling's door, he stays there, frozen on the spot as he processes what just happened. He feels guilty for not thinking about Klaus's time on the street, and about what it really entailed. It also kinda explains the violent reaction they had when they woke up and Diego shakes his head at his own stupidity. Klaus had a rough life, and it's normal it still has repercussions on them now. 

He sighs to himself, there is no reason to dwell on it now, he can't do anything about it. Maybe they can work on all of it later ? For the moment, Diego ignores the strange feeling in his stomach telling him there is more to it than that, and goes to his own room to get a well deserved night of sleep.

\---

Vanya wrinkles her nose in disgust when she enters the kitchen and smells whatever Luther is trying to cook. 

She quickly changes her expression to a strained smile as Luther turns around and spots her. He waves at her awkwardly. "Hey Vanya."

"Hey Luther." They stand there, looking at each other for a few seconds. 

Luther points at the pot, turning back to stir it. "I'm making spaghetti. Do you want some ?" 

She goes to say no, because Luther can't cook for his life, when Klaus enters the kitchen, making her jump a little in surprise. "Oooh… Spaghetti ! Can I have some ? I'm starving !" 

Luther shrugs and nods, hiding a smile at someone wanting his food. Everyone else always invent some reason they can't eat here when he cooks, it feels good to have someone not avoiding his food. "Of course." 

He puts a plate in front of them as they sit down on a chair, pulling out the one next to them, for Ben.

Vanya, not wanting to be rude, sits down too, forcing herself to ask for some too. She tries to not frown when she takes the first bite of spaghetti, he really isn't getting better at it. She continues despite the taste when she notices the shy smile on her brother's face. That makes it worth it. 

While she takes an awful long time to eat, she can't suppress the frown from appearing when she sees Klaus is already done with their own food. How are they done already ? 

Her eyes, and Luther's, widen when they actually ask for more. "Really ?" They both ask, to what they shrug. 

"I told you, I'm starving !"

They quickly finish their other plate, under Vanya's horrified look. Luther leaves the room as they finish it, after putting the leftovers in the fridge, and Vanya takes the opportunity to put the rest of her plate in the surplus. 

She looks back at Klaus, who is now washing their dishes. "Seriously, how did you eat that ? It was disgusting." 

They shrug, again. "It wasn't _that_ bad, I had worst before." She gives them an unbelievable look. "Food is food, you know ?" 

"I guess..." She isn't really convinced, but she guesses Klaus would be used to eating anything they can find. "It must be good compared to what you get on the street ?"

They nod, before adding without thinking. "Yeah, and even that was better than rations." They laugh to themself. 

Vanya frowns at the phrasing, what does that mean ? "Rations ?" 

They suddenly freeze, cursing under their breath. When they look at her again, they are smiling widely, waving a dismissive hand. "Don't listen to me. You know me, just saying stuff."

She looks at them worriedly, ready to ask more but they are already leaving the kitchen. She wants to follow them but she doesn't want to intrude too much, she doesn't think they are close enough for her trying to press into personal subjects. She sighs and leaves the kitchen too. 

\---

Allison is sitting at her desk, getting herself ready for the day when she hears a loud cursing followed by a crash in the next room. She stops what she is doing, frowning as she slowly gets up. She isn't sure on what to do for a minute, but finally decides to go check it out. She leaves her room, glancing at her right first to see Diego looking back at her, looking as confused as she feels. He waves at her to go see what's going on as he goes back in his own room. She rolls her eyes at her brother but turns to her left to investigate anyway. 

She stops as she reaches Klaus's doorstep, pretty confident the noise came from there. She can hear muffled mutterings inside and decides to knock. 

It takes a good minute of shuffling sounds before they finally open the door, seemingly surprised to see her. "Alli ! What's up ?" 

She frowns at them, trying to see what has been happening inside, but they easily block the view. _"I heard cursing and breaking, so I came to see what's going on."_

"Everything is fine." 

They try to close the door, but Allison holds it open, not believing them as she takes in their appearance. They look disheveled, and as they open back the door to let her in, obviously annoyed, she can see the frustration on their face. 

They go back to their desk, sitting with a huff, and she closes the door behind her. She looks around the room, her eyes focusing on the mess of colors on the floor, several bottles of open nail polish spilling everywhere, next to a crushed desk lamp. She frowns at the sight, her gaze going back on Klaus holding their head in their hands, they quickly move to a more relaxed position when they notice she is watching.

_"What happened here ?"_

"Nothing important." 

_"Seriously ?"_ She signs before crossing her arm above her chest, unimpressed by the dismissal. They shrug, and her eyes catch the way they keep their right arm carefully hidden behind them. _"What's happening with your arm ?"_

They quickly glance at it, trying to find an excuse but deflating at her stare and putting it on the view. She looks at the bandages for a second, wondering what is wrong with it until she notices the way their hand shakes.

She approaches them, slowly taking their hand in hers, turning it to see the large scar in the middle of their palm. She carefully traces it.

_"What happened ?"_

"It doesn't matter." Klaus shrugs, taking their hand back. 

Allison wants to insist, but seeing the closed look on their face, she decides against it, focusing on the mess again. She can now easily guess what happened, shaking hands do not mix well with precise make-up. 

_"Do you want help with the nail polish, then ?"_ She nods at the remaining bottles on their desk, and carefully takes one when they allow her. _"It's been a long time since we had a girls_ _night_ _, I've missed it."_

"Yeah, me too." Klaus smiles softly, letting her take their hand again. 

She does not mention the shaking again despite her growing curiosity and concern, seeing how frustrated they get each time it gets stronger. They spend the next hour just talking and laughing together, remembering old times where they had to sneak around to do that, while Allison works her magic on her sibling.


	7. Memorial Day

It all comes to an end two months after they stopped the Apocalypse. It's the 27th of May and everyone, sans Klaus, is in the living room for a special family meeting.

Diego is the first to break the silence. "Ok, we all know why we are here, right ?"

_ "We need to find out what is going on with Klaus." _ Allison signs and nods, worry filling her eyes. 

They all look at each other and Five rolls his eyes at the tension. "What's the plan, then ? Because, considering their recent behaviour when we start the subject, we can't just ask them about it."

"Well, first we need to determine what we actually know, before rushing into anything." Vanya is concerned about Klaus's possible reaction to them snooping around, not wanting them to feel cornered or under pressure. She knows how bad that feels. 

They look at her, agreeing, but before they can do anything Klaus enters the room, surprised to see them all in the room. "What's going on here ?" 

They sheepishly look at each other, before Diego answers them. "Nothing important, we were just - talking" 

Klaus obviously doesn't buy it but doesn't say anything. They walk through the room, towards the academy's front door, but stop in their tracks for a minute, listening to something - Ben - at their side. They turn back to them with a huff, sending an annoyed look to Ben. "Can one of you give me a ride ?" Their gaze turns suspicious, like they know what they were just talking about. "It would surely answer every question you have."

Vanya and Diego look down to the ground, ashamed of themselves, but Luther stands up. "We had enough of your secrets. We can all come with you." His voice is strong, leaving no room for refusal. 

Klaus just shrugs and turns back to leave. "Do as you want, as long as I get a ride."

They all follow them, taking the minivan to have enough space for everyone. Diego is driving, being the only one with a licence. "So, where are we going ?"

"I'll give you the directions." Klaus is sitting on his right, head turned to the window, not looking at any of them.

After around 30 minutes, they arrive in front of some assembly or manifestation. They are in Manhattan, unsure as to where exactly. 

Klaus gets out of the car, not saying anything, and the rest of them look at each other before deciding on following them. As they approach the place, Five fids himself frowning as he notices the sign 'Vietnam Veterans Plaza', he checks the date on a newspaper rack and recognises it as Memorial Day. A dread feeling creeps its way in his stomach but he doesn't say anything to the rest of his siblings and follows silently. 

Diego, Vanya and Allison are looking around, feeling like they are intruding on something, but unsure to what. 

Luther keeps his head high, ignoring the whatever manifestation going on, to keep his eyes on his sibling, ready to scold them for wasting everyone's time. Did they really need to take them all to the other side of the city ? 

Klaus completely ignores all of them, looking around the memorial to find someone they know will be here. As they strode around for a few minutes, they finally find who they are looking for, approaching the old man slowly, they stop a few meters from him.  All his siblings stop another few meters away, confused, Luther opens his mouth to start complaining when the man turns around. He is wearing an old green jacket, a few military decorations hanging on his chest, and a small scar on his cheek. 

As he takes in the sight before him, his eyes widens largely. "No way !" He doesn't take his eyes off Klaus, looking them up and down. "That's impossible !" 

He shakes his head and Klaus smiles largely at him, in a way they hadn't in the last two months, shaking their 'Hello' hand to him. "What's up, Charlie ? You look like you've just seen a ghost." They laugh slightly at their joke.

The man - Charlie ? - reaches an arm toward them, touching their arm. "You're really there ! It's really you !" He suddenly pulls Klaus into a strong hug, making them laugh loudly and return the hug. "Fuck ! We thought you were dead, Spook !"

Klaus rolls their eyes, still smiling. "Like you could get rid of me that easily."

As Charlie pulls out, he looks at them up and down again. "Ok. Ok. Just - just  _ how _ ?" 

They shuckle and lean towards him, and almost secretly wisper "Time travel." They wiggle their brows, and Charlie stays silent for a minute.

"Sure, that makes sense." 

Klaus looks surprised at that. "It does ?"

The old man gestures to them. "Considering you haven't changed a bit, yeah it makes sense." He furrows his brows for a second, seemingly thinking of something, their glare turning strangely suspicious. "Actually, you  _ do _ look exactly the same, how long have you been back ?" 

Klaus seems sheepish, putting a hand on the back of their neck and laughing nervously. "About two months now."

"Seriously ?" Klaus nods, and Charlie sighs. "How are you holding up ?" They shrug, and the man he rubs his hand to their arm in comfort. 

Charlie opens his mouth to talk but gets cut by Luther imposing himself in the conversation. "What is going on here ? Who are you ?" 

The old soldier throws the large man a look, eyeing him up, before putting himself in front of Klaus head high, who is shaking their head in amusement. "Colonel Joe Hendrickson, 173rd Airborne, and you must be Luther." He looks at Klaus for confirmation, before giving the man a mocking glare. "Spook wasn't exaggerating, you really look like a gorilla." 

That makes everyone but Luther snickers and Klaus full on laughs from behind Charlie. "Be nice to him Charlie, he doesn't mean any harm."

Vanya is confused at her sibling's words and inquires about it. "If your name is Joe, why is Klaus calling you Charlie ?"

Charlie shrugs. "All my people call me Charlie."

"Your people ?" Diego asks, confused as to why this tranger would call his sibling 'his people'.

He nods. "The 173rd." At their obvious confusion and glares at Klaus, he turns to the young soldier who avoids his gaze, nibbling on their nails.

Charlie raises an eyebrow and crosses his arm on his chest waiting for Klaus to look at him. When they finally do, it's with a guilty smile and a hand stroking the back of their neck. "I may, or may not, have omitted a little detail ?"

He gives them an exasperated look, before looking at the siblings again, pointing at them. "You mean they don't know ?" Klaus shakes their head as their siblings are getting more and more confused, except for Five who seems to be realising something but doesn't say anything for the moment. If he is right, it's not his place to say anything. 

"How did you even do that ? Like - how do you hide something like that ?"

Klaus gives him a look. "In my family ? Really easily." They look at each of them, stopping for a second on Five's understanding face giving him a quick nod, that they return. They turn back to Charlie. "They barely started to breach the subject between them today." 

The old man shakes his head, muttering to himself "What a family..."

"Okay, it's starting to get annoying." Diego moves himself in front of Luther, looking behind him for a second to see his siblings nod at him to continue. "What is it we don't know ? What's happening here ?"

Charlie is the one answering, putting his arm around Klaus's shoulders and bringing them close. "What's happening here is that none of you seem to have noticed your sibling went through hell and back. How do you even do that ?"

"Hey, we noticed something happened. We just don't know what." Diego deflects by the end of his sentence, his voice reducing to a whisper. He looks at Klaus, pleading. "You changed completely from a day to another and we have no idea why."

"It wasn't a day for me." They give Ben a look, the ghost nodding trying to make them continue. They sigh. "I guess the saying is right, isn't it ? War does change people." 

They’re all looking taken aback by that, processing what they just said. Vanya is the first to break the silence, voice wavering. "W-war ?" 

Klaus nods, opening their mouth to develop when Luther cuts them to it. "You expect us to believe  _ you _ fought in a war ? Seriously ?" 

"I can assure you they did, yes." Charlie jumps in again, ready to defend his 'sibling' in arm. "And they saved my ass more than once doing so."

_ "How is that even possible ?" _ Allison signs before Luther has a chance to talk.

"As I said before, time travel." 

They all give Five a look but his eyes stay on Klaus. "You got your hands on a briefcase ?" Klaus nods sharply. "How ?" 

"After my little conversation slash torture session with Hazel and Cha-Cha. Lovely people by the way." They say dismissively, like it was nothing. 

"T-t-torture ?" Diego asks, a hand hovering on his mouth, Vanya and Allison close to tears behind him.

Klaus just nod again. "Yeah, they kidnapped me during the shooting at the house, tortured me for a good day trying to get informations on Five that I didn't have, and when I got out thanks to Diego's cop friend-" Diego inhales sharply at that -"I took their briefcase with me, and thinking it might contain money, I opened it. Next thing I know -" The clap their hand, making everyone jump -"I'm in the middle of the Vietnam War, back in 1968, where I served for almost a year."

"And then you disappeared, as mysteriously as you appeared, leaving us all to wonder what the fuck happened." Charlie adds, making Klaus look guiltily at the ground.

"I'm sorry. I just - I couldn't. Not after -" They cut themself, their hand reaching to the dog tags around their neck, clutching them. 

Charlie sees it, and gets an understanding look, muttering to himself. "So that's where those went." He grips the kid tighter, pulling them in another hug. "It's okay Spook, I get it." Klaus nods on his shoulder before pushing him away again. 

They both look back at Klaus's sibling, who all seem at a loss for words, even Luther, who keeps his head down, ashamed at his behaviour toward his sibling. Five is the only one who looks at Klaus, a curious look on his face, they raise a brow at him. "What made you come back ?" 

Everyone turns their gaze at him, confused, but Klaus answers him. "My reason to stay died." Their hand stroking the tags softly.

Charlie strokes their back, thinking about something. "You can see ghosts right ? Like literally ? That's what you told us." Klaus nods at him, humming in agreement. "So couldn't you find your boy like that, isn't it how it works ?" 

Klaus huffs a laugh. "Believe me Charlie, I tried, but my powers are being their usual uncooperative selves." They look at their hands, tracing the scar on their 'Hello' palm. "I have no idea how to summon someone."  They clap their again, making everyone jump in surprise, again. A smile suddenly appearing on their face. "Enough depressing shit, you have to tell me how things went with your girl." 

Charlie easily breaks into a laugh, putting his arm back around their shoulders and pulling them along, ignoring completely the worried expression on their sibling’s face. "Oh, you will not believe it…"

The two of them leave further in the crowd, leaving the group alone and confused. As they get out of their trance, they start to look around, finally understanding where they are, and what the celebrations are for. 

Not wanting to intrude more that they already have, they all go back to the minivan to wait for Klaus, and think about everything they've just learned. 

"It does explain everything." Five breaks the silence, no-one bothers to look at him, all still in shock over the recent revelations.

They don't say anything until Klaus comes back to the vehicule for a minute. "It's going to take a while so you guys can leave if you want." 

They all nod and Diego looks at them for a minute, Five is right, it does explain everything. "You sure ?"

"Yeah, don't worry for me. Charlie can give me a ride home." They throw a look behind them, to the soldier giving them a thumb up. They look back at them for a second, a smile on their face, before turning back waving their 'Good Bye' hand at them. 

Diego starts the car, leaving the MemoriaL. No-one says a word in the car for the entire ride. When they get back to the academy, they all part ways, not bothering to look at each other.

Luther goes to his room. He sits on his bed, head between his hands. He feels guilty for what he assumed of his sibling, directly thinking they were back on drugs without even trying to find another reason for their behaviour. He was supposed to be better at this brother thing. He thought he was doing better. Turns out he is just an asshole who can't trust anyone for a dime.

Diego goes to the training room, needing to hit something. How could he have been so stupid ? His sibling is a war veteran, all the clues were there. He even drove them to a VFW bar, how could he have been so blind ? How could he have not put everything together ?

Allison sits on the couch in the living room. They should have noticed, shouldn't they ? They literally wore an army uniform with their own name on the jacket. She feels numb, can't she do anything right ? Can't she stop failing everyone she loves ?

Five jumps to the roof. He lies down there, contemplative. He wonders what it was like for them, to find a family in another time, away from everything they knew. A family that really cared for them, like they never did. 

Vanya goes to Klaus's room. She sits at the desk where some of the bandages are still on display. She sees an old picture there, under everything else, she takes it. It's an old photograph of soldiers in a camp. She can easily recognise her sibling, smiling next to a man who is looking at them in wonder. She puts it back on the desk, and she cries. She cries for her sibling who lost everything, and that still went forward. 

Klaus smiles. They are surrounded by their brothers in arms, retailing old stories to each other. For the first time in the last two months, they feel like they belong somewhere again. 

Ben watches his sibling carefully, staying away, silent. He watches as they smile and laugh at tells he doesn't understand. He feels a little like a stranger but he smiles nonetheless, happy to see them finally be happy, belonging.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the feedback on this !!  
> I have a follow up fic already planned out, where everyone tries to make amends for their dismissing behaviour.


End file.
